Rematch sure for Yayuk at Australian Open
Rematch sure for Yayuk at Australian Open
MELBOURNE, Australia (Agencies): Indonesia's lonely flag
carrier in top-flight tennis, Yayuk Basuki, overcame a partisan
crowd and center court nerves here yesterday to win a third round
spot and a rematch against Germany's Anke Huber in the Australian
Open.
Making only her second center court appearance in a Grand
Slam tourney, the 24-year-old from Yogyakarta disappointed a
packed crowd by thrashing home-town player Nicole Bradtke 7-5, 6-
4
"It was fun actually. I really enjoyed it. The first couple
of games I was feeling uncomfortable but after that it was okay,"
she said.
Yayuk, who is ranked 29th in the world, was last on center
court at Wimbledon in 1993. She notched her best performance here
in 1992 when she reached the third round but lost to Monica
Seles.
Yayuk said the home-crowd was "no problem. I expected it."
But the match was patchy, with Yayuk admitting to many errors. In
the second set, she allowed the Australian to go from 1-1 to 3-1
before she reacted.
The Indonesian, who is coached by her husband Suharyadi,
said that Bradtke appeared scared of her big forehand. "Bradtke
tried to put things on my backhand all the time," said elated
Yayuk.
Yayuk, who was the first Indonesian woman player to turn
professional five years ago, will meet 10th seed Huber in the
third round. They have met before and are tied at 1-1.
Huber was barely troubled in dispatching Australian teenager
Siobhan Drake Brockman for the loss of just one game.
Seventh seed Kimiko Date had more on her mind than the
tournament yesterday, spending most of her spare time telephoning
family and friends after the destructive Japanese earthquake.
But Date said after beating Kazakhstan's Elena Likhovtseva
6-2, 6-2 that she spent a sleepless night and constantly watched
television news bulletins through Tuesday on the latest from the
trembler that devastated the Japanese city of Kobe and slammed
through Kyoto and Osaka, killing more than 1,800 people.
"My family home is in Kyoto, but it's okay. And I lived
three years in Kobe, so I have many friends there," 24-year-old
Date told a news conference.
Date's compatriot Naoko Sawamatsu won her first round match
yesterday only hours after being told that the earthquake had
demolished her parents' home in Nishinomiya, east of Kobe, where
the damage was greatest.
Number two Conchita Martinez easily defeated another German,
Veronika Martinek, in a second round match but afterwards
complained of a sore neck that had hampered her top-spin
backhand.
Stark warning
In the men's singles, a super-relaxed Jim Courier was
heading for a quarterfinal showdown with world number one Pete
Sampras after a stunning three-set demolition of Italy's
Cristiano Caratti.
The ninth seed, finding Melbourne the ideal venue to parade
a new laid-back image, followed up his impressive first round
victory over the Czech Republic's David Rikl with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-1
win over Caratti in just 80 minutes.
"It's a different atmosphere here... It's a lot more relaxed
than the other three grand slams," said Courier, who has pledged
to enjoy life more this year after a forgettable 1994 when his
ranking slipped from number three to a year-end 13.
While Courier was having fun on Center Court, Caratti was
plainly suffering, particularly in the third set when the
American took the first nine points before wrapping up the set in
23 minutes.
Courier, who said he wanted to put 1994 behind him and play
to his strengths, namely his serve and forehand, that won the
singles titles here in 1992 and 1993. He lost to Sampras in last
year's semifinals.
And he is likely to face the number one seed again in the
top half of the draw after his fellow American gave a similar
awesome second-round performance in removing Jan Kroslak of
Slovakia 6-2, 6-0, 6-1.
Seeded number seven Michael Stich lifted German gloom in the
aftermath of Boris Becker's shock exit at the Australian Open
with a stark warning to his rivals at Flinders Park.
"I believe I can raise my game another 30 to 40 percent and
do much better than I've done in previous years," Stich declared
after leading the charge into the third round with a 6-0, 6-3, 6-
4 demolition of unseeded American Alex O'Brien on Center Court.
Stich emerged as Germany's last realistic hope for the men's
title when Becker fell in straight sets to American Patrick
McEnroe on Tuesday.
In yesterday's later action, Michael Chang powered to a
straight sets victory over Moroccan Karim Alami to reach the
third round. The fifth seeded American needed 102 minutes to
dispose of the 105-ranked Alami from Casablanca, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1.
Chang, who beat Sampras to win the Kooyong classic here last
weekend in the lead-up to the year's first Grand Slam, will now
play Martin Damm of the Czech Republic in the third round.